steven yi :: music

It is Sunday morning in Guerneville after a night of celebration of the 30th birthdays of my dear friends Alex and Julie. I had retired earlier than the rest last night being a bit exhausted from being sick this past week, and consequently I have woken up earlier than everyone. The sun is quite bright this morning, lighting up the fantastic view brilliantly. I sat outside briefly looking out at it all, listening to the sounds of insects all around, watching the bees visiting the beautiful flowers nearby and thinking how lovely it all is.

Inside everyone else is still asleep, so I took out the book Lutoslawski on Music by Zbigniew Skowron, a book Lisa was kind enough to check out for me from the university library. Only 20 or so pages in, having read the introduction and first essay of notes on large-scale form, I am already deeply drawn to Lutoslawski’s thoughts and considerations and have the expectation that this may very well be one of the most important texts I may read about composition and music.

This book is the first full collection of Lutoslawski’s writings and I am excited to be reading it now. In the past there have been a number of occasions where I have come across a book that seemed to have come at exactly the right time and addressed exactly concerns of mine. It has been some time since I had such a feeling but I am struck by this book now in this way.

My mind for composition has felt quite blocked for some time, both in regards to my general view on music and composition and in particular in regards to the concerns of large-scale form of the piece I have been working on, off and on, for the past couple of years. I believe this was in large part a result of the circumstances of our previous apartment, as already in the week since moving to the new apartment I have felt a great joy in being able to really listen to music again. Having mostly settled in to the new place, I have begun to collect myself to work once again on this piece, though I have been feeling a bit slow to engage again with the material and the form.

Reading and thinking about Lutoslawski’s words this morning has my mind racing and feeling a degree of activeness towards music that is exhilarating and refreshing. Recently I have been reflecting quite a bit on my life, about time passing, and composing in general, and many other things. Perhaps too with my friends entering their 30’s–a milestone I will be observing myself at the end of this year–I have been looking at areas of my life that may be taking up too much time and others that may be neglected. This morning, sitting here in the quiet house, I am filled with thoughts on music and composing and am glad to be spending my time on this. I am looking quite forward to reading more of this wonderful book and seeing where all of these thoughts will take me ahead.

Yesterday I finished reading a two part interview with Xenakis, Reynolds, Lansky, and Mâche (Part 1 and Part 2) and found myself once again encountering Xenakis’s views on composition and music, ones that I had found a deep connection with before and now once again. I’ve always felt a depth of seriousness in his work and in his approach to composition and found a great deal to appreciate. I have noticed that regardless of the style, technique, or character, all of the composers and pieces of music I’ve strongly connected with share a certain seriousness to them. Listening to the music, I always felt a certain sense that there was a great deal of the composer in the work, not necessarily something expressive (and more often the case no sense of expressionism at all), but rather… as if the composer had put a lot on the line for this work, that the work in itself means a great deal to the composer and they exposed something very essential of themselves in bringing the work about.

Thinking about Xenakis and all of this as I am starting to focus on my musical work again, I feel there is a great deal to consider and to learn from…

I’m sitting here late into the night working away on some writing, listening to some of the loveliest music I’ve heard in quite some time, Hans Otte’s Siebengesang and Wassermanmusik from his album Aquarian Music (also listenable on Rhapsody). Such lovely harmonies and colors, I’m looking forward to getting to know these pieces much better over the next few weeks…

Kyle Gann noted yesterday the passing of Hans Otte whose Das Buch der Klänge is a work I’ve long enjoyed since I first got a recording of it on CD.  I do not know very much about the man or his other works but am curious to lose myself in Das Buch der Klänge once again…

The past Thursday through Sunday I went to Quebec City for the first time to take a little bit of a holiday as well as to go along with Lisa to the American Musicological Society’s National Conference.  The last time I was in Canada was maybe six years ago for a weekend trip to Montreal, back when I was living in New York; I remember having had a good time and was quite looking forward to this trip. 

Of the city itself, I had two opportunities to walk around the city.  The first was on my own on a particularly beautiful morning: the light was clear and vibrant in the cool air, the colors of leaves were rich for the Autumn changes, and the quietness of the city of refreshing.  Walking around the old town I remember walking down one street that reminded me very much of when I used to walk down Polk Street to get to work in San Francisco and as you went North and got over the hills and started to walk down towards the water, on a sunny day you would be greeted by just the most wonderful sight of the bay.  The image in Quebec looking down this street had a similar feel, and although instead of the bay one saw more city, it was still nice to have been reminded of my San Francisco experiences and to have a familiar experience nonetheless.

The second time I went to explore the city with Lisa it was a very solid gray, windy, and cold out.  It certainly showed the city in quite literally a very different light. The old town felt like a nice place to see and visit but not one where one would live in if one were to live in the area.  Lisa and I did have a nice meal at a creperie that day, and it was nice just to be walking around with her and to spend time together there away from the conference.

As for the conference, I did attend a few of the sessions and found I had a very different impression from this conference than the one we went to in Seattle a few years back.  I found a number of the papers to be quite interesting, especially the ones on Ligeti and Stravinsky.  The one Stravinsky paper discussing finding a very strong numerical relationship between the intervallic structure of chords and the rhythmic structure in the Rite of Spring was really quite exciting and probably the paper that most left an impression on me; I will certainly be looking forward to finding time to go through the score to the Rite of Spring when I have a chance!

More than anything it was quite nice to see friends and acquaintances I have met through Lisa over the years.  It’s really great to think back and see how everyone’s careers have developed, from their concerns over their dissertations, to publishing, tenure, and building families.  I am sure it will be nice to continue to see everyone as time goes by and to see how life unfolds for us all.

Overall it was an excellent trip for both visiting a lovely city and for being around a very good conference.  I will be looking forward to both when next I’ll be able to visit Canada and to the next AMS I’ll have a chance to be around (which will most likely be next year’s in Nashville!).

One last note: I did manage to go and try the three things which I had heard quite a bit about: poutine (french fries with gravy and cheese curds), sugar pie (tarte au sucre) and Tim Horton’s (coffee, sandwich, and Canadian Maple doughnut).  I can say that I enjoyed all three as much as I thought I would! ^_^